#NARRATIVEFAIL: Team Trump Talks Tough On Russia. “As headlines about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s contacts with Russia keep the presses rolling at home, senior Trump officials are engaged in a busy day of diplomacy with their Russian counterparts abroad. But despite the frenzied speculation about Trump’s Russia ties, the Administration’s early diplomatic moves complicate the narrative.”

A MARCH ABOUT NOTHING: Why the Women’s March Failed Women.

STANDING UP TO FAKE NEWS.

OF COURSE SHE DOES: Maxine Waters Thinks Trump Is a Secret Member of the ‘Kremlin Clan’ and Needs to Be Impeached.

MEGAN MCARDLE: Another Sign That ObamaCare Exchanges Are Collapsing.

HMM: Trump’s pick to replace Flynn turns down offer.

Harward had been widely reported as the favorite to replace former general Michael Flynn, who resigned after misleading Vice President Pence about the nature of his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

Trump asked the retired Navy SEAL, 60, to take the position, but he turned it down over concerns that he would not have full say over the composition of his staff, CBS and The Financial Times reported, citing unnamed sources.

Assuming the report is correct, and there’s yet no reason to doubt it, it looks like Trump went with the safe choice, expecting Harward to sail through. But to make sure that the establishment-friendly pick wouldn’t stray too far from Trump, Trump wanted to control Harward’s N.S.A. staffing. And that of course was unacceptable to a retired SEAL, and the deal fell apart.

Appointments get scuttled in ways like this frequently, but you’re supposed to have these details worked out before going public.

An unforced and embarrassing error for President Trump.

EIGHT YEARS AGO, ON INSTAPUNDIT:

A BUNCH OF PHOTOS FROM THE DENVER TAXPAYERS’ PROTEST.

Plus, “Yes we care.” “Community organizing helped propel Barack Obama to the White House. It could work for fiscal conservatism, too.” Still more here. And reader Judith Sears emails:

I went to the Denver Pork Protest today. I don’t have a camera, so no pics. There was a good crowd – I’d guess 250 – 300, but I’m no expert. Somebody announced to us that the signing had only attracted about 75…but it was invite-only. The protest crowd was pumped and enthusiastic. The organizers brought up a pig, which got the most applause. Unfortunately, the Colorado Republicans are uninspiring speakers and didn’t seem to get the point that this was a rally – a time for chanting and hooting and hollering. Most read their speeches – poorly – and the speeches, although okay on substance, sounded like something that should be delivered on the floor of the House or Senate, not something for pumping up the base for a long political struggle. Nevertheless, we cheered whenever we got the chance and got some “No More Pork” chants going in between speakers.

Was anybody else there? Oh, yeah, here are more pictures.

And more pictures here.

Weirdly, nobody’s wearing black masks or setting things on fire.

IT’S LOVELY, BUT ISN’T IT GREAT WE DON’T NEED IT ANYMORE: Library Hand, the Fastidiously Neat Penmanship Style Made for Card Catalogs.

IN CASE YOU’RE KEEPING TRACK: Mainstream media errors in the Trump era: Your catalogue of the media’s bias-fueled failure-fest.

THE GRIEVANCE INDUSTRY: From Culture to Cupcakes.

IT’S TIME TO ASK: You and whose army?

REVEALING THE ACUMEN THAT HAS HIS COMPANY’S STOCK …. SINKING: Twitter CEO Compares US Mood To Arab Spring.

FIGHTING BACK: Anti-Trump Reporter Gets Unwelcome Surprise.

GRANDSTANDING AHOY! HP Pressures Law Firms To Engage in Discrimination.

MORE LIKE UNELECTED MEDDLERS: The leakers are not patriots; they’re saboteurs.

FAKE NEWS IN THE WASHINGTON POST! Do Whites Benefit Disproportionately from Welfare?

WOULDN’T THIS MEAN WARREN IS ON THE WRONG SIDE? Elizabeth Warren brags that financial giants are on her side in regulation fight.  Or is that only if you think crony capitalism is a bad thing?

ROGER SIMON: The Media Bulls Have Met Their Matador in Trump.

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OUTRAGE IS SELECTIVE: Democrat Commits Violence Against Women That Feminists Will Ignore. “Go ahead, ask Amanda Marcotte or Jessica Valenti when they’re going to write about Senator Brown.”

Well, to be fair, State Senators aren’t news, except when they are.

MARK LEVIN, STEVE CROWDER, MICHELLE MALKIN: Get a 7-Day Free Trial to CRTV.

DAVID BARON, CALL YOUR OFFICE: TWRA confirms cougars in Tennessee. They’ve been here for years, this just makes it official.

ROGER SIMON: The Media Bulls Have Met Their Matador In Trump.

The press doesn’t just have Trump Derangement Syndrome. They now have full-blown Trump Psychosis. And like most people with serious disorders, they are teetering close to the brink of self-immolation.

Nothing could have been more apparent in the president’s press conference Thursday. Almost none of the reporters were able to muster up a question without sounding adversarial or biased. One of them went so far as to pretend he was asking a neutral question, and then accused Trump of not being tough on anti-Semitism — the sleaziest canard on the block, and patently ridiculous given the president’s actions. (Hello! Didn’t the guy see the press conference with Netanyahu?)

And when they did contort themselves to ask a question with seeming impartiality, you could see the strain all over their faces, as if they were doing a favor so great they deserved a Papal dispensation.

More interesting, however, were the big-timers — the media bulls to Trump’s matador. CBS’ Major Garrett jumped on the president with a series of questions — what did he think of the Russian spy ship off our coast, etc. — in an effort to further the liberal/left’s current (and truly bizarre for them, considering American history, recent and otherwise) “Trump loves Russia” meme. Obviously, Garrett was searching for the holiest of grails — PROOF that Donald conspired with Vladimir to win the U.S. election.

Besides the fact that’s not happening, the repeated, absurd gotcha game about Russia is having the opposite effect, as Trump pointed out, in the real world of geopolitics.

Not that the media cares. It’s not about America. It’s only about them.

They really are like middle-schoolers.

SOCIALISM FAILS EVERYWHERE: The Sad Socialist Saga Of The Park Slope Coop. “Perhaps it’s not surprising that an institution claiming to be above making money has been losing a lot of it. But there’s more going on here. For decades, the coop has been offered a useful lesson to anyone paying attention: Socialism doesn’t work.”

To be fair, it works for some people:

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